The Braves continue to meet with officials & developers in Sarasota County regarding a new spring training home, but conveniently - they got all sides to sign confidentiality agreements to control the dissemination of information, thus we don't know how Sarasota will pay for the stadium. The Blue Jays have a similar confidentiality agreement with the city of Dunedin; the trend isn't very good for taxpayers.

The Rays' Chris Archer didn't hear back from President Obama regarding his Havana dinner offer, so he reached out to First Lady Michelle Obama. All fun and games, right? Except for the fact that Archer's marketing value stands to gain a few million dollars from the international exposure a photo op with the Obamas would bring.

21 comments:

Noah, 55 000 x average price per ticket (APPT) = qualifies you for a new MLB franchise now is right:

if and only if APPT > 19$ USD for 81 games.

With an average monthly salary of 20$ in Cuba, that's a tough call.

And we don't even talking about TV rights deal which is probably more lucrative than the gates revenues.

So Noah, I'll recommend that you eat more poutine, it may help you to figure out the complexity of the "qualifies you for a new MLB franchise now" formula!

Hope to see you at the Big O April 1 or 2. Do you have your Press accreditation? If not, I know some journalists at "La Presse" (you know the newspaper founded in 1884) that can probably help you get one even if it's sold out.

Just hope your not in charge of convincing corporations (with a marketing campaign) to buy more tickets in Tampa Bay. Because if it's the case, Rays fans don't need to look elsewhere to understand the whole problem and lack of success.

"In other news", Tampa resident Jeter states again on ESPN's Rays & Cuba game about his want to "part own" a team, though he said he doesn't have the kind of money for full ownership, but "part owner" would work, as I (parapharse), as he sat next to ole' Stu at the game... Meaning the Rays, as I stated before, could use an extra 100 mill toward a new ballpark only 2-3 miles from his home...Now we're talking, (http://www.tbo.com/news/politics/rays-talk-corporate-support-in-meeting-with-tampa-business-political-leaders-20160318/), PLUS, like I said many times before, they can reuse much of things at the Trop like the scoreboard, seats, etc., include the profits from a massive Trop "yard sale", and you have a solid financial foundation...

Before Sternberg or any other shareholders and additional investors invest into a new stadium, there are some basic "Due Diligence" steps that need to happen.

1. Corporate support to buy tickets. If corporations don't buy tickets with a guarantee that a new stadium will be built, investors will not invest.

2. Mass public transportation. Without a plan and commitment to improve significantly this public transportation, increasing attendances will be a challenge. And investors like Jeter will not take the risks.

I have an old leg lamp that I could chip in as part of the Trop liquidation sale. Between the existing reusable Trop stuff and my leg lamp we might have 7 or 8 bucks toward a new $700M stadium in Hillsborough. We would be well on our way.

Maybe (Noah) you haven't ventured out of South Tampa to Channelside or kept up w/ the news (lol), but there is dozens of apartment complexes there including many that is in the process of getting built. Which would lead most to believe that they know something that you don't, and some to believe that they know something that most don't know, like a new ballpark being built next door in the next few years. So chant "no(ah)" all you want, but reality doesn't hold true to your beliefs...And, your "maybe there isn't enough people to fill the (port's) proposal", is the ONLY project that's slated for 5-10+ years out, all the others are already there or is about to break ground...Wakeup Noah, things are & have been happening here...

and for someone that's against the use of tax $ for stadiums, you sure show your colors not offering solutions like those proposed, like a bad politician that says "Obama's bad" w/ no offered solutions like Trump... lol

Profitable pro leagues pay for stadiums themselves with a mortgage, like you or I pay for a home.

Or, if governments help pay for the cost of the facility, they get an equal share of the profits.

Problems solved!

PS, Harbour Island was hardly a dump before the Ice Palace - that's crazy talk. You do a lot to discredit yourself, Dufala.More crazytalk: saying there are hundreds of millions of dollars in rentals/condos going in, therefore there are hundreds of investors looking to sink money into new downtown projects. Trust me, the investors who want "in" on downtown Tampa development are "in" on it already.

Harbor island was 1/2 swamp & Channelside was mostly vacant when Amalie was built.I don't think most would "trust" a digressive when he thinks the "countless unbuilt sites" in Channelside aren't factually slated for development.Plus, embraces financial solutions by just saying "no", when progressive cities w/ MLB teams are growing together by feeding off each other, ie the Giants, Cubs, Dodgers, Cardinals, etc. (http://www.forbes.com/sites/mikeozanian/2016/03/23/baseballs-most-valuable-teams/#3aa4efd81ddd)!